Bardo Edibles + Elixirs

Bardo Edibles + Elixirs is a wonderful dining experience, unique in the now ubiquitous world of tapas bars: namely Asian inspired cuisine, versus the typical Spanish or Mediterranean fare.
The facility itself is somewhat spare, like a dormitory hall common room with older paint and furnishings. There is both a bar as well as an open kitchen observation counter. The ambiance is quickly forgotten once the food and drinks begin to flow, however, and they flow quickly indeed.
The drink and food menus are cute and easily understood. There is the list of house cocktails, which is robust and sure to please. The wine list seemed adequate, but would probably disappoint someone looking for a unique bottle. I had a bourbon mixed drink and a glass of Merlot, which complemented my meal perfectly well.
Being a tapas bar, I just ordered what looked good with no mind to order or sequence. Beef carpaccio was excellent, with a strong chili oil top. The famed duck tacos were good, but not great. They were overfilled by half, which led to hot oily fingers and masked under-​flavors. The chicken vindaloo was the star of the show, which I chose to be served with their «savage oil» preparation. It was hot, it was curry, but the individual ingredients were easy to discern and enjoyable. The side of kimchi provided a nice cooling counterpoint.
Service was on point, and everyone was cheerful, professional, attentive and relaxed. I highly recommend Bardo’s if you have a hankering for a taste of a variety of Asian cuisines. Enjoy!

This place is everything I expected. I have been wanting to go here for quite some time and finally convinced a willing victim out and about. Walking in the lighting is low and there are plenty of high tops, bar seats and a comfy couch area to chill out at.
We chose to lounge on the huge couch area-​I put my feet up on a rest and the waitress came over, plopped down on the couch next to me and put her feet up too. Pretty much she was chill AF. I told her to surprise me with whatever adult beverage was her favorite to make and she pranced away only to triumphantly return with probably the strongest Manhattan I have ever had. Straight booze.
I sipped on that for a while and my companion ordered the Adihana (martini-​ish Moscow Mule) and Key Lime Pie. Both were super quick to appear… Or maybe I was in booze warp speed? Not sure bwahahaha!
I started getting the hunger so I ordered the steak bites and these were for sure little morsels of heaven. Big chunks of filet wrapped in bacon and slathered with a yogurt fill sauce and a finish of BBQ sauce. They were somewhat rare still although the bacon was charred to a delicious crispy Amazingness.
Needless to say I destroyed it. And the drink was me never ending. Eventually we finished and paid and maid our merry way back to the VA Beach-​but alas!
We will be back.

Came here just now for my birthday dinner with my husband. Amazing. We came here one time before last summer late at night for their desserts and some cocktails which were really good. I remember one drink was too strong and the bartender had no problem taking it back and concocting something new to my liking which was appreciated.
Tonight we came here for dinner though and it was fantastic. The server we had was wonderful, very friendly and attentive. We ordered the wagyu beef carpaccio and Peking duck to start. The beef came with a little hot stone that allows you to cook the small thin slices kind of like Korean BBQ style– we loved that! The Peking duck was amazzzzzing. Perfect crispness, the sauce was delicious and the spring onion mix was a lovely compliment. Especially when you pack it all into the thin wraps they provide– perfection.
Afterwards we ordered the beer battered calamari, also very yummy particularly with the sauce it is served with! And we also ordered the pork belly. I was getting full so my husband ate most of the pork but it was delicious. Very tender and the sauce as well as the slaw it was on top of were both great compliments.
Finally we ordered the crème brûlée duet. It was peach and coconut flavored (peach was my favorite) and it was a perfect cap to the food. I had the Bardorita for a cocktail which was absolutely scrumptious. Exactly how I like my cocktails. My husband ordered the tantric which was very sweet surprisingly but also very yummy! We will surely be coming back and definitely soon!

So, this is going to be a very interesting review. And I just want to write it to be 100% honest, but at the same time I don’t think any less of this place.
We ordered drinks & they were great! The server was wonderful. Then we got the food. Which was also delicious. Then I looked over and a mouse or rat I’m not sure ran across the floor. I told them and they took the issue very seriously which is great. They said it was an older building but they didn’t call the appropriate people. We then got another drink and it had a bug in it. They were very tentative and took all the issues seriously. The food was delicious. The drinks were good. I love the drink menu! They did take off a drink or two from the bill which was nice. I will be back. I have been involved in food safety and I understand that this is actually just inevitable part of an old building so if these things aren’t in every old building you’re fooling yourself.

I came here one evening with my friend and we chose to sit in front of the kitchen area. I like to watch the chefs at work. Since I’m currently working very hard on my strength training, I’m holding off on the alcohol, so I did not have any wine that night. I ordered the steamed vegetable dumplings and vegetable lo mein. Before receiving my meal, I noticed the lady beside me had a quite interesting dish. She had the stuffed avocado. It looked divine, but I wasn’t sure if it were stuffed with meat or not. and I didn’t bother asking. I’ll check next time.
My steamed dumplings went well with the vegetable lo mein. I didn’t use the sauce that came with the dumplings because the lo mein was saucy enough to eat that together. I would say the lo mein was a bit salty and the noodles were heavily drenched; however, wrapping my dumplings in with the noodles saved my meal. The next time I come, I won’t order the lo mein.
I was pleased with the service. The hostess was pleasant and our waitress was very polite, patient, and knowledgeable about the menu. My friend and I had a few questions about some of the menu items and the waitress had tasted them all. I’ll definitely return to Bardo’s. I hope they’ll consider adding more vegetarian/​vegan options. I was very interested in trying the Buddha Buns but they didn’t have any that didn’t contain meat. Looking forward to my next visit.

Anyone who dislikes this place would, in my mind, prefer a pizza joint with greasy pizza. This is high end dining with an Asian flair. The aroma, the presentation, the delicacy of the food, is exceptional. Just going to Bardo for a dessert and drink is a wonderful experience. They serve a mini-​paired crème brûlée in unusual flavors, such as cantaloupe and watermelon, pear and orange, etc. Best thing about Borjo is the bar. Their inventive concoctions are amazing. They have happy bartenders that are more than accommodating. If you can’t have the drink of you choice made at Bardo you can’t have it made anywhere.

Bardo’s is simply great food and atmosphere especially for health concussion people with great taste buds and not for anyone wanting huge plates of food to over indulge! Hampton Roads train your palate so great restaurants will thrive and survive in this area

I can’t wait to return. The food was pretty tasty. Nice cocktails, friendly staff. our waiter rocked. what more is there to ask for! Plus they actually have a parking lot so no meter feeding. I recommend the carpaccio and four sight cocktail

We tried it today for the 1^st time. We are huge fans of «Still» in Portsmouth so we’ve been dying to get here. We just had dessert this trip. Tried the bento box and shared with the family. Very yummy, we were impressed and anxious to get back for a date night. Love the variety listed in the menu.

I have nothing negative to say about this place! I experienced this place on a Wednesday night and it wasn’t too busy! My group of 5 came in and the waitress was very attentive and helpful. I had questions regarding the spice level of the curry and she was nice enough to bring a small bit of it over to taste. I had about 8 of their tapas plates and my favorites were the fries with the chipotle ketchup which was smokey but not spicy, the tuna tataki, and the ginger ponzu green beans. I followed the direction of the Unilocal tips and got the Dirty Zosia as my drink, it sounds super sweet but it is the perfect balance of alcohol and sweet, with the sweet tipping the scales slightly. I will surely return.

First time at Bardo last night w some friends, the place it’s very cute and small, tables are very close to each other. My friends and I order a couple of dishes, thank god I read reviews and see pictures to explain to them that the servings are tapas size. But I do think waitress should advice of this to new clients, everything we had was good, the vegetable egg rolls, lettuce wraps, and at the end the girls got dessert. Heaven & hell. I didn’t really like that, it tasted like old burn angel cake. And there was really no fruits w it. I didn’t understand the levels till today when I was looking at the picture lol but I got it I would def go back here for drinks and small plates. I wouldn’t for an actual dinner, maybe I eat too much and food it’s actually good size

I was last here for my birthday with Yada for drinks. The lemonade alcohol was exactly what I was looking for and if I didn’t have to drive, I would have had a lot more.
This is a tapas place so don’t come when you’re extremely hungry, otherwise you will sped a HUGE amount of money and still be hungry.
The chicken meatballs were delicious and as was the fondue. If you don’t eat pork, you might be a little pressed to find something to eat, but there are things available.

It was just okay. The duck lumpia was good… Tapas is not my favorite style of food but that’s my opinion. I can now say that I’ve tried it…

Talk about a dismal experience. Definitely didn’t live up to the 4 star rating. The service was ⁸⁄₁₀ but the food was lackluster at best. We ordered 7 of their tapas style offerings and not one was finished.
1) Brussel sprouts-​drowning, SOS drowning, in straight soy sauce, nothing to it. Had to dump the sauce out to find the sprouts.
2) Fondue– actually tasty but this was not fondue. Straight queso. Like Dallas, Texas queso with bread too stale for pigeons.
3) Pickled Octupus. Inedible. Literally octupus floating in distilled white vinegar.
4) Spring rolls– odd meat seasoning combo and overpowering sesame made it difficult to even taste a vegetable in the spring roll.
5) Scallop– scallop itself was cooked perfectly but the Boursin cheese seemed almost like a creativity cop-​out and the black rice was undercooked, nearly hazardous to teeth.
6)Coconut rice– edible but reminiscent of a middle school’s lunch line take on Thai. No pure coconut flavor and essentially minute rice.
7) Eggplant on rice patty– eggplant was tasty and the rice patty had good texture but totally forgot salt. Dish was minimally seasoned and needed at least an extra dash of salt.
Worst dinner I’ve had in awhile. On the plus side, ambiance was nice and some of the cocktails looked good.

This place was pretty disappointing. I think it’s a 2.5,but for once my husband was the nicer of the two of us. It definitely wasn’t what we were expecting. There is so much potential here, but it just needs a little help. The menu is good, but the execution is where the ball was dropped. Nothing was prepared in a way that we feel the need to visit again to try a second time which was disappointing because there were lots of things I wanted to try. Everything we did try was, «Meh».
I know that we have those same potstickers (dumpling of the moment) in our freezer at home. Bread for fondue… lacking anything and everything. Charred octopus… Overcooked. Duck lumpia… Was there really duck in there? The waygu was good though.
It’s such a shame. The location is great, service was great, and the building is good also. However, it was so hot that I was guzzling down water like I was in the desert. I believe there was a window or door open somewhere to help with this issue because there were lots of flies. I hope this is where they came from anyway.
There would have to be some changes before we revisit this place. (the atmosphere was also lacking… Super loud!!)
I’ve definitely had better tapas in Norfolk, VA.

This place is great! I have been wanting to try this place for a long time but never really had the opportunity. So when my boyfriend asked me where I wanted to go for my birthday dinner, I immediately thought of this place. I’d actually thought it was simply a tapas bar, so I was surprised to find when we got there that it was also an Asian fusion restaurant. It was still very good and an enjoyable experience.
My boyfriend had actually made a reservation for us. I’m not sure what happened, but there was no record of it. Luckily, we only had to wait about 15 minutes for a seat. Our server was very friendly and ordered our drinks right away. He then explained the menu to us and how the it was divided into different sections. We then ordered several things to start with. Not realizing exactly how small the portions were, we quickly decided we should order more food. (I know that it’s a tapas place, but I guess I wasn’t expecting the portions to be that small!)
Our food was a little slow to come out, but it was definitely worth the wait. My boyfriend and I both decided the duck tacos were our favorite. I also really liked their cheese fondue. We’d also ordered the dip sum doughnuts for dessert, which took the longest to come out but we’re so incredibly delicious! Melting the chocolate chopsticks inside each doughnut made them that absolutely amazing!
However, a lot of the menu items that we’d originally wanted weren’t available. They’d run out of many things. We were there for a pretty late dinner, and it was a Saturday night. Our waiter told us they hadn’t anticipated so many large parties that night, so I don’t think the kitchen was prepared to serve so much. I was a little disappointed to not be able to try some of their menu items, but what we did end up getting was still amazing! I definitely want to go back and try more of their food. It was still overall a really great experience!

This was such a treat! Service was most excellent! We started with bacon wrapped tenderloin with an amazing aoili drizzle. .YUM!!!
We then had the avacado hummus with truffle oil served with warm pita points. Amazing!
Next onto beef carpacio. You cook this on a hot stone at your table. This was quite the presentation and it was so flavorful! We almost ordered another round!
Finally we had lamb chops, which were encrusted in panko. These had so much flavor. Unfortunately the califlower mash under left something to be desired.
All in all, this was such a fabulous meal and I look forward to dining there again! Highly recommended! !

Firstly I want to start out with my first impression. My fiancé and I
Got a hotel downtown for Valentine’s Day and we made reservations for 5 here. We got a cab and came over it was about 4:55pm and the door were locked (that’s fine) and the ladies saw us as the door and the cab left and we were just standing in the cold. They wouldn’t even let us in 5 mins early just to get out of the cold. Not only did they make us Stand outside the door in the freezing February evening but they also didn’t unlock until 5:05pm… And when they unlocked the door the young lady just unlocked the door and just pushed it and let it slam in our face I guess to check and see if the unlock mechanism worked? Whatever. Then my fiancé held the door open for her to bring this big sign out for the road. Yeah you’re welcome even though you kept us outside to freeze…
Anyways…
My fiancé is about 6 foot tall and about 200lbs… He’s a well built man… And they put us at the tiniest table ever… I felt like we were about to have tea with my baby niece… So we asked to move and they wouldn’t let us move to another 2 top table. So we sat at the bar…
Don’t get me wrong our waitress was so sweet her name was Lindsay. But it took her forever to come back to us since we moved to the bar.
My food was delicious the drinks were awesome but I just can’t get over how they just watched us stand in the freezing cold and there was no hospitality. I would never let anyone just stand outside like that evenig if I was still prepping 5 mins before the doors open I would have let them in to at least get out of the cold.
I hope my next experience is better…

My first visit here was not the greatest, we had reservations for a party of four and ended up with a fifth person. We were all seated at the food bar when the waitstaff approached and unapologetically said «you only made reservations for four, the 5^th seat is reserved for another party no one can sit here» and then she walked away… ok I understand her point but she left us with no other option so we all decided we were going to just leave, as we were getting up to leave the waitress returned with the manager, the manager says: well we’ll just bring over extra chair… bingo! Had the waitress thought of that she could have saved us 10 minutes of utter confusion, searching on Unilocal for nearby bars to go instead and most importantly creating a scene… smh
The edibles and elixirs: so I needed to order 3 drinks to calm my nerves from dealing with our lovely waitress. I ordered the Tantric, Thai Almond and the buttery nipple. All were good, the Thai almond was my favorite of the trio. I also ordered the Asian shrimp and grits… it was just ok. no Wow factor with that.
Not sure if I’ll come back.
Oh yea one of the chefs made us complementary donuts with chocolate, caramel and raspberry sauce. delish!

I can hardly believe that I haven’t written a review for Bardo’s, yet! I’ve been coming here at least once a month (often, 3 – 4 times) for about 2 years! Hand’s down, it’s my favorite place to grab a cocktail.
The food is… inventive. I’m not a huge fan, to be honest. I find that I usually have to ask for salt (it’s not kept at the tables). But, it’s not really their fault. I wouldn’t describe myself as an adventurous eater. Their menu (food & drink) is geared towards those with an adventurous palate. Liquor? Yes, sign me up. Food… not so much. So, my review is based on their liquors.
I try to be balanced. And, I think it’s fair to hope for a review that takes all offerings into account. That being said, even without the food I come here often and praise the drinks highly. It would be disingenuous for me to to give them anything less than 4 stars. The service is usually very good. If I’m hungry, I can usually find something to munch on, even if that something won’t have a flavor worth savoring. So, 4 solid stars.
I recommend trying the infusions. They always have two steeping & it changes frequently. Ask the bartender for suggestions based on the flavor that you’re in the mood to try. And, don’t be shy if it isn’t to your liking… They can fix it! Cheers!